These Christmas Swirl Cheesecake Bars are definitely going to be a big hit at this year’s Christmas dinner along with my famous Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Pie and Hershey’s Cocoa Cream Pie.
updated 11/2/22
Every holiday I’m usually in charge of the desserts for the holiday dinners. It’s my favorite thing. I love making a variety of festive treats. This post contains affiliate links.
Table of Contents
How do make Christmas Swirl Cheesecake Bars?
Before you begin, cover the bottom and sides of the 9 x 13 pan in foil, so you can easily lift out the cheesecake for cutting into squares.
This cheesecake is very similar to my Halloween Monster Mash Cheesecake Bars. I love using OREOs for these cheesecake crusts, I think the creme filling helps add to the stickiness of the crust to hold it together.
While the crust is cooling, make the cheesecake batter. Once you have made the cheesecake batter, divide the batter into three bowls. Keep one bowl white. Then, color one bowl bright red and one bright green. I recommend using food coloring gel to get those bright colors.
For this cheesecake, I randomly add a spoonful of each color of the batter all around the cheesecake. To get the batter smooth, I tap the baking dish on the counter a couple times. Then, I take a butter knife and gently swirled through the cheesecake.
How do you prevent cracks in a cheesecake?
The secret to a good cheesecake without cracks is preventing it from getting too hot while it’s cooking. First, I cook my cheesecakes at 325 F degrees.
I’ve seen people place the pan directly in a water bath while it cooks, but I don’t like that. A few years ago, I read What’s Cooking America recommends just setting a baking pan like a cookie sheet half filled with water on the lower rack and placing the cheesecake in the middle of the top rack with the top rack set at the middle level of the oven.
I put a cookie sheet full of water on the bottom rack before I make the cheesecake batter. This way, it’s boiling by the time I get the cheesecake in the oven. When I cook cheesecakes this way, they come out beautifully. Now, this is the only method I use to make cheesecake, and they never crack.
To keep it looking lovely, I let the cheesecake cool on the counter for an hour or so, and then I put it in the fridge to sit overnight.
Decorating your Christmas Swirl Cheesecake Bars?
After the cheesecake has set overnight, I pull it out of the fridge about an hour before I want to decorate it. You can decorate however you’d like. I like to go crazy with sprinkles on my cheesecake bars. So, I used a variety of sprinkle mixtures from multicolored Christmas non-pareils to Christmas trees and Holly leaves sprinkles.
How do you cut a cheesecake into smooth bars?
My secret to cutting those pretty squares of cheesecake is using a hot knife. I run it under hot water until the knife is completely hot. Then, I wipe off the water and slice. This will make pretty squares without any extra clumps of cheese as long as you do it every time you cut a length through the cheesecake.
Looking for more Christmas treats and eats?
- Hershey Bar Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Christmas Cherry Cookie Cups
- Christmas Santa Belly Treats
- Hershey’s Cocoa Cream Pie
- Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Cookie Cups
- Snow Globe Christmas Treats for Kids
- Jack Frost Christmas Chocolate Bark
Christmas Swirl Cheesecake Bars
Make these festive Christmas Swirl Cheesecake Bars for a totally fun dessert for the holidays!
Ingredients
- Crust Ingredients:
- 32 OREO cookies
- 6 tablespoons of butter
- Cheesecake Ingredients:
- 24 oz cream cheese, softened
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- red and green gel food coloring
- Decorations
- confetti sprinkles in Christmas colors
Instructions
Crust Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F degrees.
- In a blender or food processor add the 32 OREOs with their creme filling. Pulse on high until they are crumbs.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter. Pour the butter into the food processor and pulse a few times to thoroughly mix it into the cookie crumbs.
- Layer a 9 x 13 pan completely with foil so you can lift out the cheesecake when it's done.
- Press the OREO crumbs into the bottom of the pan.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Let cool while making cheesecake batter.
Cheesecake Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F degrees.
- Place the top rack in the middle of the oven.
- Add a large cookie sheet to the lower rack, and fill it halfway with water.
- Cream together the sugar and cream cheese until they are smooth.
- Add the eggs and mix until they are incorporated.
- Add the vanilla, sour cream, and flour and mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter into three bowls.
- Keep one white and color one red and the third one green.
- Spoon each color in random places on the crust so the colors are all around the cheesecake.
- Gently tap the baking dish on the counter to smooth out the cheesecake.
- Gently run a butter knife through the batter to swirl the colors.
- Place the cheesecake into the oven right above the pan of water and bake for 45 minutes. Do not open the oven.
- If it's no longer jiggly in the middle, it's done. Otherwise, check back every 2-3 minutes until no longer jiggly.
- Allow it to cool for an hour or so on the counter. Then, place it in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Decorations
- Let the cheesecake sit on the counter for about an hour after pulling it out of the fridge before decorating.
- Add the sprinkles throughout the cheesecake.
- Use a hot knife to cut into squares.
Come Join Us!
Liked this article and want more? Follow along on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and YouTube!
Come over and join us on Facebook in the group Recipes, Crafts, and more with TipToe Fairy or Sewing and Crafting with The TipToe Fairy!